Home shopping for first-time homebuyers it’s an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking, experience. If you’re like others in the market for their first home, you probably have in mind exactly how your soon-to-be home will look.

But it’s important not to fall into the bad decorating, dingy walls and dirt-bare back yard equals bad-home trap. If you don’t see past the hideous wallpaper, funky light fixtures and avocado green carpeting, you may miss out on a home with great potential.

And, if you’re looking for a home in a seller’s market where homes are being snatched up as soon as they go on the market, you’ll come to realize you can’t be choosy if you want to make a competitive offer.

One of the first things to do is to get pre-approved for a loan and determine the maximum you can afford to offer for a house. Don’t look at homes that are asking for more than 5 percent above your maximum, otherwise you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment if you find the perfect—but outside your budget—home.

So what to do?
The floor plan of the home is extremely important. If a floor plan isn’t quite to your liking, consider rearranging it or adding on. If you’re looking at an existing home and will need to remodel or expand to suit your needs, the estimated cost of renovation needs to be considered when making an offer.

Also, consider the features of a home:

•Walls. While these are among the easiest to remedy, they also make a huge first impression. If the walls need to be painted, are covered in wallpaper or are painted a color you find distasteful, picture them crisp and clean in the color of your choice—that’s how they could look after you paint them.

•Floors. Like walls, carpet or floor surfaces that are old or outdated can be easily replaced. You could even ask for a carpet allowance in your bid, especially if you’re in a buyer’s market.

•View. Things like old, ugly—even dirty—windows and window treatments can make a view appear less desirable. Those things can be improved, so unless the only view you have is of your neighbor’s clunker on the side of the house, don’t get hung up on what is surely a fixable view.

•Landscaping. Your best bet is a moderately landscaped yard because you can always improve landscaping without spending too much. Worst case, even if you’re looking at dirt, landscaping is one of the easier projects to tackle. Plus you get to design it however you’d like if you’re starting from scratch.

•Closets and garages. You can never have too much storage space, which is why so many newer homes have three-car garages. But if you encounter a converted garage that is now a bedroom or storage room, don’t give up. Converted garages can almost always go back to their original purpose without much cost or labor.

•Kitchen. The most popular room in the house, many homeowners want their kitchen to be large and have modern appliances. Don’t let outdated color schemes deter you because there’s nothing like a fresh coat (or two) of paint to make a kitchen your own. Plus, if you like the rest of the house enough to make an offer, you can give the kitchen a minor spruce-up with some new appliances or a major overhaul complete with new countertops, cabinets, and flooring.

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The plan to eliminate the mortgage tax deduction was widely criticized, but the industry overreacted to the proposal. Turns out it’s not that great for most of us.

President Obama’s deficit commission came up short of votes to command quick action in Congress of a bipartisan plan that recommended eliminating or reducing long-standing credits, including the popular home mortgage interest deduction. This isn’t much of a surprise. While lawmakers acknowledge that the nation faces an incredibly worrisome debt problem and that a dramatic slash in spending needs to happen, the plan was politically unpopular from the start.

Real estate and mortgage industry experts argued the elimination of the mortgage deduction would put more pressure on an already fragile housing market. That might be the case, but if we look deeper, many of their arguments are exaggerated. If anything, once the housing market gains some strength three or so years from now, slimming the deduction down some might actually not be such a bad thing and it could save the US government billions of dollars. Here are three reasons why:

It doesn’t benefit the vast majority of American homeowners anyway.

Under the current program, taxpayers who itemize their deductions can deduct the interest on mortgages of up to $1 million for their primary and second homes, as well as on home equity loans of up to $100,000. This overwhelmingly benefits relatively wealthier households since they’re more likely to itemize their tax deductions. Middle to lower income households tend to go with standard deductions.

The deficit commission’s proposal recommended scaling the mortgage interest deduction to $500,000 from $1 million and limiting it to only primary residences and not second homes. The deficit commission also proposed eliminating the mortgage interest deduction and turning it into a 12% nonrefundable tax credit available to everyone – a pitch that some experts including Steve Ott, director the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Center for Real Estate says could benefit more homeowners including lower to middle-income households.

“A credit is always a benefit but the deduction is only a benefit to the extent that you itemize,” Ott says.

What’s more, even though mortgage industry leaders say doing away with the deduction could make homeownership less appealing, Chris Mayer, real estate professor at Columbia University, says the program hasn’t proven to encourage home buying. Since the deduction mostly benefits relatively wealthier households, they would own homes with or without the deduction.

Years from now, it’s anyone’s guess what could come next of the mortgage tax deduction. Efforts to change the structure have been under way before. A panel in 2005 appointed by then-President Bush proposed allowing homeowners to claim a mortgage interest credit of 15% on loans of up to $412,000. The proposal never really took off.

It doesn’t help home prices much.

In a way, the timing of the panel’s latest proposals was just bad. Because of the fragility of home prices and record foreclosures, the housing market is an incredibly touchy topic, and a very political one at that.

Nationally, home prices for the third quarter fell 1.5% from the same time last year and were down 2% from the previous three months, according to data released earlier this week by the S&P/Case-Shiller index. At least for now, doing away with the deduction or scaling it down would likely push home prices even lower, especially in areas along the East Coast where home prices are higher relative to the rest of the country, says Mayer of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. This might help make homes relatively more affordable to a wider spectrum of potential buyers but it could also increase foreclosures since far too many homeowners already owe more on their mortgages than their properties are valued.

Mayer adds that while winding down the tax deduction would add further pressure to the soft housing market in the short-term, it wouldn’t have much of an impact on prices in the long-run. Enacting legislation that would start phasing out the program three or so years from now could be an option.

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So you’re thinking about adding another bathroom to your home. There are many reasons to contemplate this project, ranging from an elderly parent moving in, to your teenagers’ constant fights over the current bathroom, to wanting more space to accommodate guests. Whatever your reasons, adding a bathroom will enhance your home’s resale value and provide increased comfort and convenience in the short term. 

According to a 2003 cost-versus-value report from Remodeling magazine, you could make up to 94 percent of your investment back on a $15,000 mid-range bathroom addition. That is even more than the 80 percent this report cites for a major kitchen remodeling job. 

Finding Space in Your Existing Home 

The good news is that most homes offer sufficient space for another bathroom. The first thing to do is scour your home for possible locations; you’d be surprised at how much extra space you have in your house if you’d just look for it. Consider the basement, attic, under the hallway stairs, an enclosed porch or even an empty corner of an existing room. Maybe you would even be willing to give up a linen closet or space in a guest bedroom to accommodate a new bathroom. Look around and see what is available and what makes sense. 

Planning the Room 

Once you’ve taken the plunge and decided to move ahead with the room, start by checking your local building codes to determine minimum room size. In general, a powder room should be at least 18 square feet, a bathroom with a shower no smaller than 30 square feet, while a room with both a shower and tub should be no less than 35 square feet. You will also need the proper permits from your city before beginning the job. 

Next, get a feel for the room by using masking tape to lay out where the fixtures will be located. A standard size toilet is usually 30 inches in width with a clearance of two feet in front. Don’t forget to map out the sink area and a tub or shower if that is in the plan, too. 

If the new space you have targeted shares a wall with an existing bathroom or kitchen, you can save hundreds of dollars by not having to extend the plumbing, according to Garry Gage, a 20-year West coast plumbing veteran and consultant for FlowGuard Gold pipe and fittings. “Plumbing also will be less expensive if the area beneath the new bath is a basement or crawlspace without any obstructions,” says Gage. 

Another tip for keeping the plumbing costs low is to locate the room as close as possible to the main waste drain, or the stack. Gage also advises homeowners to ensure that all drains are vented by routing them to an exterior wall or the roof to prevent sewer gas from entering the house. 

Most critical is to ensure that the area is structurally sound, especially in an older home where floor joists may need reinforcement in the process of adding the bath.

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SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE – A Guide to Septic Cleaning – How Often Do You Pump Out A Septic Tank?
Table I below lists the recommended septic tank pumping frequency according to septic tank capacity and household size. The frequencies were calculated to provide a minimum of 24 hours of wastewater retention assuming 50 percent digestion of the retained solids.

The removal of septic waste by cleaning the septic tank is a critical step in septic system care as it extends the life of the septic field. Even if you don’t care how septic systems work you need to know when to clean the septic tank by pumping out septic waste. Look up your tank size and number of building occupants to see how often the septic tank should be cleaned.

Table I. Septic Tank Pumping Frequency in Years
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NOTES to the Septic Tank Pumping Schedule Table:

Numbers in the septic pumping table indicate septic treatment tank pump out in frequency of every nn years for conventional septic tanks, and assuming for year-round occupancy of the residence. (This data does not pertain to simple holding tanks which retain all solid and liquid waste with no treatment no effluent disposal system.)
* These septic tank sizes are below the minimum size allowed in Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions. Florida septic tank pumping rules and Ohio septic tank cleaning rules may be more demanding.
Minimum septic tank sizes: Under current Pennsylvania law a 900 gallon septic tank is the minimum size that must be used for a home with three bedrooms or less. If six people reside in a three-bedroom house, the tank should be pumped every 1.3 years. If the same system serves a family of two, the tank would be ready for pumping every 5.2 years. Systems installed before the current rules and regulations were implemented may need to be pumped more often, perhaps every year or less.
Garbage disposers will increase the frequency of pumping. For example, if this same three bedroom house with six residents had a garbage disposal and was generally producing a higher volume of wastewater, the pumping frequency would be calculated as follows: 1.3 years – [(0.2) x 1.3 years] = 1.0 year. For more analysis of the effect of garbage disposers on septic systems see Garbage Grinders or Garbage Disposes and Septic Tank Maintenance
Typical Septic Tank Pumping Costs: A typical fee to pump a septic tank is $200. to $300 to pump a septic tank up to 1000g in size, provided that the tank pumping access port has been uncovered and is readily accessible. If the septic pumping contractor needs to find the septic tank and then excavate the septic tank pumping access opening, expect to pay an additional $350. to $400. provided that no extraordinary measures are needed. Prices vary somewhat by region. A part of the fee you’re paying your septic pumping contractor is the cost to dispose of the septage.
For an explanation of the meaning of sewage levels in the septic tank and how that information informs septic tank pumping frequency, see SEWAGE LEVELS in SEPTIC TANKS.
Onsite sewage disposal system holding tanks, where there is no septic field, will need to be pumped more frequently based simply on the rate and volume of septic waste inflow. Portions of this information were provided by the Penn State College of Agriculture – Cooperative Extension.

We have edited and added to the original septic tank pumping guideline material based on research and field experience testing, inspecting, and installing septic systems and based on study of other reference sources on septic system maintenance and design.

Electronic Monitors for Septic Tank Scum & Sludge Levels
Below at References we also describe an electronic septic tank monitor or grease trap monitor from Worldstone. These devices can track sludge, scum, or grease levels in order to best schedule septic tank pumping or grease trap cleaning. This product is suitable for commercial installations and possibly for some residential septic tank systems.

According to the company, “Data from monitors can help establish appropriate service intervals, and document maintenance for regulatory compliance. Alarm features can help detect abnormal conditions and prevent costly backups.”The company also produces an oil tank level monitor.

Thanks to reader Robert Shirley for this tip.

OPINION – DF: this product is a great idea for commercial installations or problem septic installations. Substituting actual septic tank scum layer thickness or scum level thickness data for the septic tank pumping schedule table above may allow the tank to be opened and pumped less often – saving some money.

Watch out: But don’t forget that regular opening and inspection of the septic tank, such as happens when the septic tank is to be pumped out or “cleaned”, gives an additional opportunity to check for other septic system problems that could be leading to a costly failure, but that don’t directly concern the septic tank sludge or scum layer thickness. Examples include the discovery of lost or damaged septic tank baffles, septic tanks leaks that allow ground water to flood the septic system, or septic tank leaks out of the tank.
 

Katonah NY Homes reports there are ninety-eight (98) homes currently available for sale in Katonah NY. The high price is $15,000,000 and the low is $379,000, The average Katonah NY Home is 3706 square feet, has been for sale for 167 days and is asking $357 per foot. The Median Price is $887,450. At the current sales pace there is 18.38 months of inventory.

Over the last three (3) months there have been 20 sales. A nice 25% increase when compared to the same period last year. The low sold price was $430,000. The high sold price was $5,500,000. The Median Price of a Katonah NY Home was $717,000. The average home sold was 2836 square feet, took 129 days to sell and sold for $273 per foot. The average Katonah NY Home sold at 94.34% of asking price.

In 2009 there were 16 sales. The low was $425,000 and the high $1,975,000. The Median Price of a Katonah NY Home was $599,000 in 2009. The average home was 2762 square feet, took 129 days to sell, sold at $275 per foot. In 2009 the average Katonah NY Home sold at 96.87% of asking price. (source: Eamls.)

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Today’s Lowest Mortgage Interest Rates – Refinance 30 Year Fixed Home Loan Rates at 4.15% on November 14, 2010

As November is halfway through mortgage interest rates continue to remain at very low levels with the help of the federal reserve bank. Over the last several months it has been the case that mortgage rates have dropped due to the fact that the federal reserve bank continues to buy treasuries and expand the quantitative easing program. With this being the case today’s lowest mortgage interest rates are around 4.15% for the 30 year fixed mortgage.

When looking at historical trends of overall mortgage rates it is very hard to imagine that refinanced 30 year fixed home loan rates are well below 4.5%. Never in the history of the United States housing market have interest rates stayed so low for such a long period of time. Much of this is due to the fact that the overall economy continues to struggle.

Federal reserve bank chairman Ben Bernanke continues to make the statement that interest rates will stay low until the overall economy begins to recover. This is a double-edged sword as many people want the economy to recover so jobs are available but interest rates will start to move up which means it will be much more difficult to borrow money at cheap rates.

For those Americans who have made very good financial decisions in the past decade the low interest-rate environment has helped them greatly. With the lowest possible mortgage interest rates at 4.15% many Americans have been able to refinance a home loan to a very low rate. Some homeowners have found that they can save hundreds of dollars on a monthly mortgage payment and possibly pay a mortgage off much quicker.

With the advancements of Google and the overall Internet it is quite amazing to see the possibilities when it comes to research. Almost all mortgage lenders throughout the country offer free resources online and it would be wise to take advantage of these resources as refinancing could save money. As with any major financial decision in one’s life it is always important to step back and think about the multiple options.

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WHEN it comes to the housing market, predictions are perilous business. A market that looked as if it was verging on a renaissance one month could, depending on the factors that go into analyzing it, look pretty lousy the next.

This has certainly been the case in New York City of late. The local rollercoaster comes amid dark news on the national housing market; and there are indications that the New York market may not be as resilient to the country’s economic woes in 2011 as it was in 2010.

For example, if you take a look at Manhattan data for October, from an analysis by StreetEasy.com, the number of newly signed contracts represented about the same number as in October 2007, a year before the housing crash, during a period considered a relatively healthy benchmark for the market. Any sign of normalcy is said to be good news these days.

The city’s biggest brokerages are reporting that their agents have been busy, and October is traditionally a strong month on the real estate calendar, which flew into chaos in 2008, 2009 and parts of 2010.

Also, August was a slow month for contracts signed — another factor more typical of the precrash days. And because of the lag time between signings and closings — typically about 60 days — that slowness resulted in data showing sluggish sales in October: another sign of normalcy.

Still, even with the higher volume of signed contracts in October — which would then be expected to show strong sales in December — average asking prices this October were down by 11 percent compared with October 2007, and the units selling were smaller, with deeper price cuts, according to Sofia Song, the vice president for research of StreetEasy.com.

“It’s a different climate,” Ms. Song said.

Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, who analyzes market data for Prudential Douglas Elliman, said that despite the bursts of “happy housing news” in 2010, driven in part by the federal tax credit that spurred home-buying early in the year, he expected the 2011 New York market to be weaker.

Mortgage interest rates are starting to creep back up from record lows; unemployment is still stubbornly high; and banks remain extremely strict on lending.

There are also uncertainties that could stall buying for the rest of 2010 and into 2011, and perhaps the biggest is whether Wall Street bonuses will be fat, slim, or somewhere in between. There have been mixed reports. Some have recently indicated that bonuses may fall far short of last year’s, which were ample enough to help spur buying in early 2010.

“If the bonuses are big as we go into 2011,” said Pamela Liebman, the chief executive of the Corcoran Group, “we’ll have the wind behind us. If the bonuses are down, the wind is at our face and it’s a tougher climb.”

There are also other question marks, including how the election will affect the market, particularly whether Congress will stop increases in capital gains and estate taxes, two key rates that heavily influence buying and selling decisions.

In 2011 the long-term capital gains tax is due to increase to 20 percent from 15 percent, and estates of $1 million or more would be taxable at top rates of 55 percent. But with the Republicans winning the majority in the House, lawmakers could step in to stop those changes, Mr. Miller said.

While acknowledging that the near future is a great unknown, city brokerages are clinging to a few factors that they say show the New York market will continue to fare better in 2011 than the national housing market.

Several brokerages pointed to an increase in foreign investment in New York real estate in recent months. A few also said that there had been a recent increase in sales of high-end properties — those listed for $10 million and above — the kinds of deals that for the most part had been rare since the crash.

The volume of transactions and the prices of properties in the luxury niche are still well below those before the crash, but sales at the high end can promote consumer confidence, brokers say, because of the message they send: people who can choose where to park their cash are spending money on real estate.

“We were not seeing those deals,” said Hall F. Willkie, the president of Brown Harris Stevens. “But the activity is returning.”

Some brokerages say that there are built-in protections from a meaningful housing dip in New York, among them the city’s comparatively low housing inventory. Markets elsewhere are still flooded with inventory, particularly from new developments, but the city’s unsold housing supply has returned to typically low levels, which means that one key to market health — the relationship of supply to demand — isn’t out of kilter.

Dorothy Herman, the president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, said she disagreed with predictions of a weaker 2011, saying she believed the market would very likely be no better or no worse than 2010, but would “move sideways.”

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Invasion of the money snatchers

Book Review: ‘Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices’

You’d have to have lived under a very large rock for the last few years to not have heard of the not-so-slow death of investigative journalism. Newspapers are fast being replaced by websites, and those that remain have been largely reformatted to appeal to the miniscule 21st century American attention span.

One revision? The virtual elimination of both (a) the class of reporters who are paid to take weeks, months or even years to investigate a story (think: Watergate) and (b) the long-form stories born of such extended inquiries.

Enterprising journalists of this near-extinct ilk are, perhaps fortunately for us, being forced to turn elsewhere to flex their investigative writing muscle. One example: former newspaper reporter Fred Williams, who went deep cover as a collection agency employee to get the dirt and then spill it in his new book, “Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices.”

As a result, this very timely tome reads as part action plan (or, more accurately, reaction plan), part memoir, and all gritty and real when it comes to illuminating what happens inside America’s collection agencies.

Right from the introduction, Williams begins to impress upon readers exactly how heartless and even willing to disobey the law he found the collection agencies he worked in to be, as he retells the story of a collection call he once made to the widower of the debtor.

The man’s wife, Williams was told, died after years of drug abuse. “All that money you’re looking for … (she) put it up her nose,” the man said.

After listening to the man’s now-motherless children in the background, Williams marked the account deceased in accordance with that state’s law, under which the widower was not responsible for his wife’s bills, only to be told by a co-worker, “Someone’s going to get it out of them, only it won’t be you. If you don’t call them, I will.”

In the context of educating readers about how to fight back against collectors gone wild, these heinous stories don’t ring in the vein of the standard us vs. them — they’re evil-type moans and groans.

They serve to shake emotional debtors into the reality that their adversaries, collectors, are in this for one reason only: to collect as much money as possible from whomever they can, however they can.

Their business is not about reason, logic, empathy or sympathy. Given the stories Williams cites of the many collection agencies who are fined hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars for violating fair debt collection statutes, the business of collections apparently is not always about collecting what they can within the guidelines stated by law.

With this understanding girding their telephonic loins, Williams proceeds to provide readers with insights and action items to defend themselves from collectors.

“Fight Back” is divided into two parts: Part I is devoted to exposing various debt collection secrets — literal insider secrets Williams culled during his training and experience inside collection agencies.

This part serves as a briefing to consumers about the collection agencies’ modus operandi. Each indivdual secret, from “Anger Can Be Power” to “The Golden Rule: Money Today,” offers a story, a real-life example that illustrates the key tenets of how agencies operate — and also offers a glimpse past the bogus stories that collectors may tell debtors in an effort to guilt, threaten, scare, lie or humiliate them into helping them meet their targets.

Each of these mini-chapters (18 in all) closes with an action item for debtors who are facing the particular collection tactic exposed in the chapter, and also refers them to more detailed solutions in Part II of “Fight Back.”

Part II covers nothing but mechanisms and strategies for coping with unfair debt collection tactics. Here, Williams provides a very user-friendly action guide for consumers at every phase of the debt-collection lifestyle.

Whether you’re looking to stop collectors from calling, file a complaint against them with a regulatory agency or to actually negotiate a debt settlement, the book provides the information debtors need.

Williams doesn’t stop where many books do, by simply quoting from the various legal debt-collection guidelines, although that material is in “Fight Back.”

He offers readers scripts in point-counterpoint format for how to engage in conversation with collectors, rebut their overly aggressive tactics, and still arrive at the desired aim of the conversation in the first place.

Dealing with collectors is not fun — and no book will ever make it so. But with so many Americans forgoing credit card payments to keep up with mortgage payments and finding themselves in collection situations for any number of other reasons, if you find yourself in this situation, it would behoove you to have Fight Back as a weapon in your self-protection arsenal.

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